


Like the wind you came passing by | Ghosts you have left behind

by Spicy_Cannoli_AKA_Lia



Series: Every Other Ghost [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Asexual Number Five | The Boy, Commission Five, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Five raises Klaus, Gen, Good Sibling Number Five | The Boy, Haphephobia, Kinda, Number Five | The Boy Has Haphephobia, Number Five | The Boy Has Issues, Number Five | The Boy has PTSD, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Protective Ben Hargreeves, Protective Number Five | The Boy, Recreational Drug Use, Sibling Bonding, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:20:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25587349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spicy_Cannoli_AKA_Lia/pseuds/Spicy_Cannoli_AKA_Lia
Summary: [No Incest]Five has haphephobia and is trying to get over it when he comes across the last person he expected to see. If Klaus wasn't going to take care of himself, then screw it, Five would. And if his stupid brother thought he was a shy sugar daddy of all things, then so be it..Or,  Klaus was just living his life when some weird man decides to be his sugar daddy -without the sugar... or the daddy.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Dolores & Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy), Number Five | The Boy & Ben Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves
Series: Every Other Ghost [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1866949
Comments: 70
Kudos: 450





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is... the accidental sugar daddy AU no one asked for. 
> 
> This wouldn't be possible without the wonderful Misshowdoyoudo. She helped with the brainstorming, cheerleading and betaing. If you haven't read her stuff (somehow) go check her out! 
> 
> (Title from Every Other Ghost, by Mili)

Five Hargreeves had a problem.

At first, Five didn’t even notice he had one. He knew he wasn’t a stable individual. Hell, everyone at the Commission knew he wasn’t stable. Whenever he had a pissed off expression -which was most of the time- they stayed clear of him. 

The only one who greeted him with confidence was The Handler, but besides that first meeting and the subsequent explanation of the work to be done, he had barely seen her.

Still, because of his natural leave-me-the-fuck-alone aura, and the nature of everyone’s work at the time corps, he hadn’t truly noticed how deep his mental stability went. It wasn’t until  _ the incident _ he was finally clued in. And while,  _ yes _ , calling it  _ the incident _ was dramatic, even for him, he thought it applied,  _ Dolores.  _ And no, he didn’t use an overwhelming amount of italics on his thought process,  _ damn it _ .

Back to the point at hand, it wasn’t until  _ the inci-  _ fine! He’d call it something normal. It wasn’t until his fourth mission at the Time Commission that he noticed he wasn’t as…  _ functional _ … as he’d like to believe. 

The mission had gone like any other: Five had gotten the slip of paper telling him what was expected of him, he and Dolores had gotten settled in the cheap motel room they were assigned to, and Five had gone out to scope his current target. The thing was, his target had decided that going to the disco was the best course of action. And while Five wasn’t against his innocent target partying on her last day alive -he knew a certain brother of his would be all for that idea if what he read on Seven’s book was to be believed- he felt that he, Five Hargreeves, was not meant to be partying to some stupid 70s bops. 

Still, a job was a job, and if this was what took to have his siblings safe and alive and not-  _ cold cold cold bodies, muscles stiff, eyes glazed, and no matter how much he shook them they wouldn’t w _ **_ake uP_ ** \- and not  _ dead _ . Then he’d do it. Still, it seemed like his internal monologue wasn’t enough to keep him distracted because only a few seconds after he entered the disco, a young man put a hand against his shoulder and Five just- stopped. Functioning. The flinch over being touched was undesirable, but not surprising. However, the immediate panic that came after was not expected at all. 

Eyes wide, trembling and clutching his arm, Five fled the disco and went straight into his motel room. The first thing he did after reaching it, was to go and hug Dolores. Dolores with her soft, cold, porcelain skin. So much different from the burning, sweaty palm - _ he could still feel the burn on the place he was touched and it wouldn’t  _ **_STOP_ ** \- he had felt a few minutes prior. 

He rocked himself on the floor, Dolores in his arms, for a few minutes and tried to breathe. He was lightheaded and his chest hurt, the fact that he was hardly breathing didn’t help. 

He was sure Dolores was telling him to slow down, but it took around twenty minutes of rocking himself on the floor before he was well enough to even hear her. 

If he were anyone else, he would be embarrassed by the show of weakness, but as an apocalyptic survivor, he had his unorthodox coping mechanisms, and if he knew they helped, why would he deny himself some peace of mind. Scenes like this weren’t so uncommon back then and after so many years of living alone with his partner, Five was far past being embarrassed about a natural reaction. 

(And it  _ was _ natural. He read so himself in some of the undamaged books in the library.

He wasn’t defective, he  _ wasn’t. _ )

After he’d stopped his  _ minor _ freak out, Five analysed the situation. While freakouts like this, which he later learned to call them panic attacks, weren’t what Five would consider a  _ rarity _ , Five was no longer living in the desolated landscape he had been living in the majority of his life. No, now Five lived with people, worked with people, and he couldn’t afford to give himself ‘sick days’ as he did before. No, now his time was limited and he was probably being watched. It was with that resolve in mind, Five gave Dolores one last squeeze and stood up. 

He still had until 18:43, the next day, to finish his mission, so he gave himself the night to think. 

He didn’t get much sleep that night. However, he did clear up a few things. 

  1. Five had to find some better coping mechanisms, now that earth was populated once more. 
  2. He had to find out if there was any way he was being watched, as that’d put a significant damper to his whole ‘stopping the apocalypse and saving his siblings’ plans.But most importantly:
  3. Five had to get over his fear of physical contact.



Now, after that whole revelation, one might think Five would’ve done something about his fear - of  _ touching others _ of all things. Yet there he was, an unknown amount of time and eleven completed missions later, still without a solution. 

The whole, ‘can’t touch people without freaking out’ business he had going on hadn’t really affected him strongly. Again, his work wasn’t one that required much physical contact, and no one had assigned him a partner (well, he had Dolores, though she was less an assigned partner and more a condition for him to work with them), so he hadn’t even had had much chance to speak to any living humans, let alone touch them. 

Still, the fact he couldn’t touch others was a weakness and liability, and even Dolores herself agreed he needed to fix it. So, he decided it was experimenting. 

In 1845 he figured out if he touched others, then he only had to deal with slight but manageable discomfort. 

In 1930 he figured out that if he was touched unexpectedly, his mind entered fight or flight mode, making him prone to running or hitting whoever touched him before he would even consider the situation.

In 2009 he figured out a surprise hug would sometimes lead to a panic attack. He also learned that no matter how well-intended strangers were, Dolores seemed to be the only one to be able to calm him down. 

In 1903 he started experimenting with touch in controlled environments. Which was fancy talk for; Five started eliminating targets as he did back in the old academy days; hands-on. It was a little jarring at first, but, after his first two months at The Association were over, Five felt like he had the hang of touching others in situations he could control. Hell- he even shook someone’s hand the other day! It felt awful, and he could  _ still _ feel the burning feeling on his palm to this day, but he  _ did it _ .

Still, besides that handshake, Five hadn’t experimented with any kind of touch that wasn’t aggressive or the means to an end. He thought he was fine where he was at, but Dolores had rationally said that if he planned on joining his siblings’ lives again after he stopped the apocalypse, he would be expected to hold _some_ level of touch. So after a month of giving - _horrible_ **_horrible_** _-_ handshakes, Five decided it was time for the biggest challenge he had faced: sex. 

He’d probably have to pay someone, to make the situation as controlled as he could (he wasn’t really worried about money. The Commission paid surprisingly well if you didn’t have a partner. Especially if you were as good as Five, and since Five didn’t really use the money for anything besides his bare necessities, he had more than enough for anything he pleased) but he was sure he was ready. Dolores said he shouldn’t jump into things, but he was sure he knew his limits better than her.

Anyways, when he got a five days mission in Hamilton, Canada, 2008, Five knew it was the time. He spent the first-day doing recon on the target, but as soon as the second night came (fuck if Five knew what day of the week it was), Five went out to a club and tried to get himself ready. 

It looked, however, like Dolores hadn’t really been wrong with her assessment of Five’s capabilities after all, because as soon as he entered the club, Five felt immediately claustrophobic and overwhelmed. A large number of people in such a close space, the loud music hindering his sense of hearing, the dimmed lights taking away some visibility, the whole atmosphere was awful. Five sat at the bar -alcohol was something familiar at least, though showing his back to everyone made him uncomfortable- and ordered a drink. He just knew he was going to need that liquid luck. 

As Five looked around, he realised just  _ how _ out of his depth he was. He had no idea how to even start searching for someone to sleep with. 

Besides that, he didn’t even know what he wanted. Besides someone physically weaker, so he could stop them from doing anything he didn’t want without a problem, he didn’t really have many requirements. He was looking for sex, not for romance -he already had Dolores for that bit- so he wasn’t picky. That’s what he told himself anyway, but every person his eyes passed by only left him with an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach and a large amount of dread. 

Five was debating what to do when he heard it. It sounded like the beginning of a bar fight. 

‘‘Look, man, I don’t want a problem-’’ 

‘‘Yeah? Well, maybe you should’ve thought of that before stealing my shit, huh?’’

‘‘Heyy, Richie, my man, what’s a little sharing between friends?’’ 

‘‘We’re not friends, you slut, now give me back my wallet!’’

The two men continued shouting as so. Five was just about to ignore them when he noticed something odd about one of the young men. It wasn’t his wild, untamed hair, nor it was his tight and colourful fashion sense. No, it was the face. 

The face Five was seeing, was a face he had seen before. It was a face he had seen on the day everything fell apart. It was a face he had seen on a corpse, lying under a wrecked building.

‘‘... Klaus?’’ 

The whisper was low enough that the arguing duo hadn’t heard (though unknown to him, a certain ghost  _ had _ heard his whisper and was currently staring at him with suspicion) but it  _ was _ enough to kick him into action. Already accepting he wasn’t going to achieve what he had meant to achieve -and dare he say it, slightly grateful for the distraction- Five walked towards the pair, whose verbal fight was rapidly becoming physical. Using those reflexes Reginald had honed over the years, and the Commission perfected, Five stopped the oncoming fist the redheaded guy -Richie apparently- had aimed towards his brother. He didn’t bother hiding his sneer at the physical contact, slightly glad it came out insulting instead of scared and looked at the guy with the most intimidating expression he could muster. 

(which yes, he had practised in the mirror before- but let’s be real here, what else was there to do on a goddamned post-apocalyptic wasteland)

‘‘Hey, asshole’’ he started, before deciding to try some slang he’d heard somewhere before, ‘‘how about you flake off and go bother someone else?’’ he asked. 

‘‘What the fuck man? That dude stole my wallet,’’ the angry man stated, pointing accusingly at Klaus. 

‘‘Well, I have business with him’’ Five said, annoyance seeping into his tone. Seeing how the other guy seemed to be getting angrier, Five decided to stop the situation from escalating further. ‘‘Look,’’ he sighed, taking out his wallet, ‘‘ just tell me how much he took and I’ll pay you back’’

It was then that Klaus had seemingly decided to join the conversation. Much to everyone’s confusion, an old wallet was suddenly thrown at the other guy’s face. Before he or Five could start asking what was going on, Klaus was quick to speak up. 

‘‘You know what Richie-boy? Stay with your stupid wallet.’’ Klaus said, a fake whiny tone in place. He then hugged Five’s arm and rested his head on Five’s shoulder. It took everything the assassin had not to flinch at the unexpected contact. ‘‘Looks like I won’t need it with this guy, ain’t that right daddy?’’ Klaus said, fluttering his eyelashes at Five.

‘‘God, please never call me that again,’’ Five said in disgust, cringing, but he didn’t stop Klaus as he pulled him out of the bar, leaving a flabbergasted Richie and his thin wallet behind. 

As they walked outside, Five noticed that, while not liking Klaus’ touch, he wasn’t in that horrible fight or flight mode unexpected touch usually put him in. It was less of a burning, awful sensation, and more of a slight discomfort. While Five would have liked to give himself the credit for his improvement, a part of him knew it was probably the familiarity of having Four hanging onto him that kept him from freaking out. 

After they had gotten far enough away from the bar, Klaus finally dropped Five’s arm and started- twirling? 

As he pulled out a small bag full of tiny capsules from his pocket and danced, he suddenly started talking to the air next to him. ‘‘Oh man, he didn’t even notice I took his Molly,’’ he gushed before frowning. ‘‘Oh, shut up, you know he had it coming. Plus he somehow gets the really pure stuff, I swear I’m gonna find his dealer sometime.’’ As Klaus kept conversing to his invisible partner, Five started thinking.

It seemed like Vanya’s book wasn’t completely off-track about the whole drug addiction thing, though the way he was talking to the ghost -and wasn’t that a nice surprise? Little number Four talking to a ghost instead of being scared of it?-it didn’t seem to be attention-seeking in any way. Rather, it just looked like he was focusing on too many things at once.

For a brief moment, Five wondered if Klaus was talking to Ben, before brushing the thought out of his mind. 

‘‘What’s your deal anyway, big guy?’’ Four asked, and it took Five a while to realise he was talking to him. ‘‘I gotta say if we’ve met before I don’t quite remember you, so you’re gonna have to remind me how you like it,  _ if you know what I mean _ ’’ At this Five couldn’t stop his face from reflectively cringing.

‘‘Shut up.’’ he said, ‘‘Just take me to the nearest hotel, I’m too tired for this shit,’’ he sighed.

At that, however, Klaus seemed to take a more…  _ cautious _ look. 

‘‘Hey man,’’ Klaus started, ‘‘I’m down for pretty much anything but there’s gotta be some consent first you know? Why don’t we discuss some stuff first, -like what you wanna do, how much you’re playing me- before we get ahead of ourselves’’

‘‘ _ What? _ ’’ Five asked, flabbergasted. ‘‘I- I just want to sleep, Klaus!’’ Five exclaimed, his tone coming off a little more condescending than he’d like. Trying to salvage the situation, Five kept talking, ‘‘Look, I’ll pay your stay and food, just show me a damned hotel!’’ 

‘‘ _ Aggressive, huh _ ’’ Klaus muttered, before sharing a look with the empty air to his right. ‘‘Sounds good to me’’ he shrugged, taking Five’s arm again and guiding him to -probably- a hotel. Five sighed from relief inside his head. It seemed like his fear of touching wouldn’t be his only problem when rejoining society. He could already hear Dolores reproaching him about his lack of social skills. She  _ had _ always been the more social one out of the two.

Klaus’ face gave a sudden turn towards the right, eyebrows raised. ‘‘What- shut up Ben, haven’t you heard about how we  _ don’t look at horses on the mouth _ ? No- I’m pretty sure the phrase goes like that. Why would it be a  _ gift _ horse anyways? Actually, what does the horse mouth have to do with anything?’’ It looked like Five was going to have to deal with that chatter the whole way. Ignoring the pang he felt at the mention of Ben’s name, Five decided to put an end to the argument before it could escalate.

‘‘It’s ‘Don't look a gift horse in the mouth’. People look at horses mouths to find out their age. It basically means if the horse’s a gift, don’t look for flaws and just accept the damned gift,’’ he explained, unable to keep the slightly condescending tone of his voice from seeping in once more. 

Still, it made him a bit nostalgic, to be explaining things to his siblings again. Reminded him of the times when he was younger and Vanya would ask him about whatever subject he was reading. Such simpler times, how he longed to go back. He wondered how little number Seven was doing. She probably wasn’t as little as she was when he last saw her, huh.

‘‘See, you ass! I was right!’’ Klaus continued, ‘‘Ok so I might’ve gotten the idiom a bit mixed up, but the sentiment is the same you suspicious bitch.’’ 

…

‘‘Said with love.’’ 

It looked like the chatter wasn’t quite over yet.

* * *

They eventually reached the hotel -which ended up looking more like a motel. Not a cheap dirty one, but a motel nonetheless- and Five paid for their accommodations. Klaus gave him a weird look when he asked for a two-bed but wisely kept his mouth shut. After buying both Klaus and himself some BTL’s, Five took a brisk shower in the rented room and immediately turned off the lights and laid in bed. 

Five thought he would finally be able to be alone with his thoughts for a while, but it looked like his brother had a different idea in mind.

‘‘So like… we’re really not gonna fuck?’’ Klaus asked, with -wonder? of all things? -in his tone. 

‘‘For God’s sake,’’ Five sighed, before remembering Klaus was only nineteen at the time and changing his approach. ‘‘Look, I just wanted to get you out of the fight ok? Do you have a place to stay in anyways?’’ he asked, staring at the dark ceiling, with only the dim city lights as accompaniment. 

‘‘Why are you so interested, man? Have we met before?’’ Klaus asked. Five thought of what to say for a few seconds, before deciding to be as truthful as he could.

‘‘We did’’ he said, tone sombre, ‘‘It was a long time ago though. When we were both younger’’ 

‘‘Bet I was far younger heh’’ Klaus muttered, and Five had to hold himself back from making a comment. 

After a few minutes of silence, Five decided to speak up again. ‘‘You never answered the question.’’

He could hear Klaus debating with what was probably Ben for a few seconds before he answered. ‘‘Well… I don’t currently have a place of residence if that’s what you’re asking.’’ There was a pregnant pause before he continued. ‘‘I get by though, although I wouldn’t mind it if you were to buy me out this hotel room for a couple of days, daddy’’ and while the tone was jokingly, Five could hear his brother wasn’t just playing.

‘‘If you drop the daddy thing, I just might’’ Five answered, and before he could get another word in ‘‘-wait really? Wirklich wirklich?’’ Klaus interrupted him. 

‘‘Yes,  _ really really _ . Now let me sleep, I have work tomorrow.’’ 

* * *

The three remaining days in Hamilton passed quickly. Five was glad he’d found Klaus on such a long mission. After he was sure his target -a thirty-year-old comedian called Amelie Tremblay- was going to be out on a date on his last day, creating a perfect opportunity to slip some slow-acting poison on her cup, Five decided to spend the rest of the time with his brother.

Klaus got more and more suspicious as Five kept buying him things (food, because let’s be honest, he looked like a stick, and a warmer coat, because it was getting colder, among others) but after remarking on wanting some warm socks, and Five immediately getting some, Klaus seemed to accept it. 

(In reality, Klaus just guessed the older man had a fetish for taking care of others. He was a bit weirded out about the lack of sex, but maybe he wasn’t ready yet. The man -John Smith he had called himself- had big virgin energy after all. While Ben disagreed, Klaus was sure the older man was only intimidating on the outside, maybe he was shy.) 

(Five wasn’t shy. He just didn’t want his brother to starve or freeze to death before he could even start stopping the apocalypse) 

Pampering his younger brother aside, Five truly enjoyed the freedom these extra days had gotten him. 

Klaus was touchy enough that Five could rationalise the days lazing around as progress -and that was another thing. While Klaus’ touch was slightly uncomfortable, as long as he saw it coming, it was nowhere near the horrible feeling touching strangers gave him. He wondered if he was getting better at all or if it was the fact that it was his little brother who was touching him that made it different. 

Still, Five drank some good coffee, caught up on some 2008 slang and watched some weird dog training show that was basically a Dolores-esque woman insulting horrible dog owners for being horrible dog owners and then fixing their shitty attitude. And while that was fun and all, he had to admit -if only to himself- that the true highlight of his stay was reclaiming that little piece of home he had been longing for so long. 

Even if Klaus was loud and sometimes annoying, Five wouldn’t change it for the world. In a world without the apocalypse, Klaus’ constant chatter would be annoying. However, after being alone for so long, it was a bit -heartwarming? Five was getting soft. Not that he ever wasn’t soft. His whole life was dedicated to saving his siblings after all.

As the fifth and final day of his stay at Hamilton arrived, Five had to admit he was going to miss Klaus. He was very tempted to stay in that time period. However, Five knew the Temp Commission wouldn’t allow that. Well, it would all be worth it in the end. 

‘‘I’m leaving.’’ 

Klaus looked up in surprise from where he was playing with the hotel remote control. ‘‘What?’’ asked the youngest of the two. ‘‘You’re leaving- the hotel? You know you don’t have to ask me for permission right?’’

Five groaned, before deciding to ignore the comment altogether. ‘’No. I’m leaving for good,’’ he said, ‘‘I have a job elsewhere. I’ll admit though, I enjoyed our time together. I paid the hotel for another week, so feel free to stay here’’ 

Five looked at his brother, the brother he last saw as a corpse more than forty years ago and pushed down the feelings of regret. He grabbed tightly onto his briefcase and gave the confused looking Klaus one last look. 

‘‘May we meet again’’ he said, and closed the door for good.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kinda filler... I promise there'll be some sibling bonding next chapter! 
> 
> ((Also i might've uh, not edited this hehe. I'll probably fix it at a later date))

Going back to the Commission wasn’t  _ hard per se _ -if there was one thing Five could pride himself on, it was his adaptability- but after getting that little taste of  _ home _ , everything else felt  _ lacking _ . Still, it served as good motivation. 

Whenever Five felt like he couldn’t keep going -a feeling that certainly got more prominent after he was ordered to kill a child for the first time- he’d just remembered simpler times with his family. However, after the years had passed, his memories became less and less reliable. Five wasn’t sure if the nostalgia was making it all seem better than it was, and the details became spottier and spottier. Was it Luther who loved graham crackers? Or was it Ben? Which of his siblings had a fear of needles? Which one was the one who had gotten obsessed with  _ Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland _ ? Five couldn’t trust his memories, and not being able to tell how much of his motivation was fiction or reality… well, it wasn’t a nice feeling.

But now, now Five had met two of his siblings (even if one he’d only met by proxy) and the desire to make sure they didn’t  _ die _ had come back with full force. Whenever he despaired about his seemingly endless job -seriously, not counting some longer missions, Five barely had any free time at all! Had anyone there heard of weekends?- and the morality behind it, he was quick to remember the family he had- no has.

(And if for once his thoughts weren’t about how his siblings where treating tiny little Vanya, 

but rather wild free-spirited Klaus… well, after the state he found him in, it only made sense.)

Still, after holding a conversation with someone who wasn’t an employer for the first time in- well various years- his previously interesting job just seemed…  _ monotonous _ . 

At that thought, Dolores was quick to remind him that nothing could be as monotonous as the end of the world, and Five had to acknowledge that she was right. The only times living wasn’t monotonous was when stressful things happened -such as running out of food, getting lost away from his shelter, running out of food, having an injury and, well, running out of food. 

If there was one thing Five could appreciate of his time in the Commission, it was food. He would easily admit -if he had anyone to admit things to anyways- that he had a bit of a hoarding habit. Besides his essentials, Five always made sure to carry at least a few cans of food. Even Dolores couldn’t fault him on that, she knew first hand how awful being without food was, even if she didn’t eat herself. 

Brushing all those thoughts aside, Five focused on his task at hand. Readying his rifle, Five aimed and waited. Soon enough, his target -a smarmy businessman named Yasuhiro Hayato- walked by, and when he was close enough to the spot Five wanted him in, he shot him. God, somehow the Temp Com, had managed to make  _ killing _ boring. That was something, not even his father had managed. Though perhaps he was just getting too old for this.

* * *

It had been four months since Five had started working at the Commission, and it was finally time for his check-up. 

Both Five and Dolores had been anticipation it, as he’d have not only to be touched by strangers but to be touched  _ constantly _ . When Five had first arrived he’d had his first checkup, but at the time he’d been too overwhelmed by  _ everything _ to even notice the touches. He was eventually put under too, as the toll malnutrition and constant labour had on his body wasn’t an instant fix. 

Still, this time it would be different. He probably wouldn’t need to be put under, and he could finally focus on his surroundings. 

Five entered the room, glancing left and right unashamedly. After getting some strange looks, he deduced it was probably another  _ being-the-last-man-left-on-earth  _ habit normal people didn’t have. It only took two years for him to forget which habits were original his (what he called  _ normal people habits _ ) and which where apocalypse habits. Getting lost on his thoughts so easily was  _ definitively _ an apocalypse habit. Oh, how he missed the days where he had a clearer mind. 

A husky -but no in a good way- interrupted Five’s thoughts.

‘‘Well, hello there, Number Five! Long time no see,’’ Five glanced up, and indeed there she was. The Handler herself. 

‘‘It’s been a while,’’ he shrugged, before noticing the expression on the nearby doctor. It looked like he wanted to get started but didn’t dare interrupt the Handler. 

At the doctor’s cowardly, Five just rolled his eyes before addressing the blonde woman once more. ‘‘Looks like our little buddy there wants us to get started. Can’t say I don’t want to get this over too’’ he said, walking towards the medical bed (?). He sat and prepared himself mentally for what was coming. If only Dolores was there… oh well. 

The doctor started doing a very basic checkup and while Five felt uncomfortable, there was just  _ something _ about his professionalism that gave him nostalgia. Before he can think too much on it, the Handler spoke up again.

‘‘So, number Five, how are you liking your new job? Far more befitting than what you had going on before if I do say so myself’’ she drawled, smirk in place. 

Five had to stop himself from not reacting negatively. While glad he was finally out of the ashy hellscape he used to live in, he still had made more of it than  _ anyone _ else would.

‘‘It’s… acceptable’’ he said, not wanting to give her the satisfaction. ‘‘Though I do wonder, don’t other agents complain about the lack of weekends?’’ 

‘‘Aah, so you haven’t noticed,’’ 

Five’s left eye twitched.

‘‘Well, no one noticed at first. I don’t know why I expected you to be the first.’’ before she could continue, the doctor hands him some pills with a neutral expression. Somehow it felt weird to be attended without a calm smile. 

_ Ah, that was what this reminded him of _ . His mother- or rather, Grace. 

Scowling with annoyance at being given pills without knowing what they were, Five gave the doctor the most murderous glare he could. Seeing the doctor flinch, Five, gave a small nod of satisfaction and swallowed the pills. The Handler, not caring about what was going on, continued talking.

‘‘Your missions. They get longer once a week right?’’ she asked. After receiving a nod in response she continued ‘‘Well I say once a week but it’s really more once every five missions. Imagine if we had time to count how many days each mission lasts for every employee! What a waste of recourses’’ she said with a laugh. 

And Five, well Five couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed. He was far more out of it that he thought if he missed a pattern so obvious. All this time thinking he was  _ better _ for compleating long missions in a short time, when in fact they were longer intentionally! If he were alone he’d swear. 

‘‘Anyways,’’ she continued, ‘‘You can use that time as… a break of sorts. If anything you’re doing seems to be affecting the timeline, we’ll be sure to warn you!’’ she finished with a smile. Five cringed at her, though considering the fact the doctor was currently drawing blood, the Handler might not even notice it was directed at her. 

‘‘Ah,’’ she exclaimed. ‘‘You probably don’t know this. Every six months you get a week off in a time and location of your choosing. Though… you’ll have to understand, we won’t let you get too close to  _ you-know-what _ .” She finished, giving the doctor a side-eye. 

Five nodded in response, assimilating all the new information. It was all so very useful, he wondered why it wasn’t on the orientation video… well actually he  _ had _ gotten distracted back then, arguing with Dolores, so perhaps it was. Before he could get too lost in a train of thought, the Handler spoke once more.

“Talking about  _ you-know-what _ , don’t think we don’t know what you were doing on the Hamilton mission, 2009.” She said, smiling pleasantly. 

“Well,” Five started, “if you know that, then I’m sure you know all I did was stop a bar fight and give my brother a place to stay for the night.” He finished. The sentence, while completely factual, somehow managed to sound sarcastic. 

“Well yes,” she said matter of factly, “if you  _ had _ done anything else we would’ve stopped you of course. You could say that was… a  _ test _ of sorts. One which you passed! Almost failed it when you decided to interact with him, but looks like giving the junkie a place to sleep didn’t really ruin anything. Not that we  _ didn’t _ know that” 

Five managed to rail in the urge to insult her, knowing he was dependant on her and the Commission for the time being. Still, he couldn’t help but start thinking, and he couldn’t help but start  _ planing _ . This information was  _ valuable _ . 

The check-up went normally after that. The conversation shifted toward safer grounds, and soon Five was going to the hotel he was staying in, supplements in hand. Or what he  _ thought _ where supplements anyways. Those doctors sure had some issues with information.

* * *

After his talk with the Handler, Five’s life didn’t change drastically -although he did tend to leave the experiments to the ‘weekends’ now. His weekdays were focused solely on becoming the best assassin there ever was, because really, if you weren’t aiming for the best, then what was the point? 

A thing that  _ did _ change, however, was the fact that no matter how many times he tried, unexpected contact of flesh with flesh felt horrible. He still freaked out when he was touched unexpectedly, and even expected touch he couldn’t handle if he hadn’t prepared a few minutes beforehand! I was like the progress he made with Four had all gone to waste.

After another failed experiment, Five arrived at his hotel, shameful tears still clinging to his eyes and bottle of Vodka in hand. 

‘‘Don’t even say anything’’ he snapped at Dolores, before realising what he’d done. ‘‘Look- I’m sorry ok? It’s just, you wouldn’t imagine how  _ frustrating _ it is! Every time I walk a crowded street, all I can think of is ways to avoid others, it’s driving me insane!’’ he ranted as he walked towards the bed and laid in it. 

From the nightstand, Dolores looked at him with a calm expression. 

‘‘Yeah you’re right, that’s still no excuse to take it out on you.’’ he sighed, looking at the ceiling fan. After a few seconds of silence, Five suddenly turned towards Dolores. 

‘‘You’re right! Klaus was the only variable between  _ then _ and  _ now _ ! I  _ must _ see him again. It could be so many things, maybe the familiarity? Or the fact he’s as thin as a twig. Perhaps even the drugs on his system, who would’ve thought they had a good side’’ 

Five continued his ramblings for the rest of the night, swapping ideas with Dolores about what was going on, and if he closed his eyes, he could even imagine he was back at the end of the world. While the situation was one he’d never want to relive, the familiarity was wonderful for the nerves.

Soon enough, Five fell asleep. The only sounds to be heard where the whirring of the fan, and nonsensical sentences coming out of Five’s mouth.

* * *

It had now been five months since Five started working with the Commission, and he and the Handler were gathered at a park in 1842, Poland, talking about his impending vacations. 

“So, I was thinking 2011, Canada” Five said, fake smile in place. 

The Handler only raised an eyebrow at that, face unamused. “Well, number Five, I’m sure you know we can’t let you get close to the end of the world,” she said, tone flat. 

“Please, while I’m probably the best agent you have, I doubt even  _ I _ can change the Apocalypse by spending a week eight years earlier in a different province.’’ Five stated. No matter how respectful he tried to be, it seemed like a little sarcasm always found its way out.

‘‘I just want to check on Klaus. The plan is to get my siblings at the end, not a husk of their former selves” he said, fake bravado in place.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll be happy to know your junkie brother,  _ somehow _ , managed to make it to twenty-nine!” said the Handler with a sarcastic cheer.

Five opened his mouth, ready to argue before she interrupted him.

“Five, Five, Five, I’m sure you already know our deal can go both ways, I could simply  _ not _ allow you to be with your siblings at all! But if you keep doing what we agreed on, it’ll all work out perfectly for both of us!” 

At that, Five rolled his eyes. “Look, you can monitor me all you want, all I want to do is find him a more…  _ permanent  _ place to say, something better than the streets, and some money for necessities. I’m certain that won’t be able to stop the apocalypse. I won’t even try to get him out of his… less favourable habits” he finished. 

And at that, the Handler had a contemplative look on her face, which for Five, was everything. He’d come here with zero expectations, but it seemed keeping the confident bravado was paying up, even in a little way. 

He decided to prove a bit more.

“You could call it…  _ insurance _ . A way for me to know you won’t go back on your word on a later date. And I’ll be sure to limit my interactions to Klaus. I’m sure he won’t even know it’s me, he was never the brightest after all”  _ sorry Klaus,  _ he thought,  _ but I really need this to work _ . 

“Hmm, you know what? I’ll consider it. We’ll talk about this after your next mission number Five. Taking of which, there’s one waiting for you next to your… mannequin” 

Five tensed at the thought of anyone being near Dolores, before realising she was probably talking about a pneumatic tube.

‘‘Fine,’’ he drawled out, before blinking out of the park. 

The Handler stared at the place where the agent was standing just a few seconds ago with shock, before regaining her composure. It seemed like she had a visit to make. 

* * *

‘‘Well number Five, I’m sure you’ll be ecstatic to know we’ve decided to allow you to visit your wayward brother. Here’’ she patted the briefcase on her desk, ‘‘is a briefcase set of the fifteenth of May, 2011, Salmon Arm, BC.’’

Five’s eyes widened in shock. While he had some small hope the Handler would agree to his idea, it was only that,  _ hope _ . He extended his arm to grab the briefcase, but the Handler moved it out of reach. Before he could start complaining, the Handler was quick to speak.

‘‘Know  _ this _ , number Five,’’ she warned. ‘‘The only reason we’re allowing this, is because not even  _ you _ could damage a fixed point in the timeline in that situation.  _ However _ … if you  _ do _ mess up, you’ll be happy to know you won’t be the only one we’ll be executing.’’ 

Five gave a pause at that because executing? He didn’t know about  _ that _ . But it didn’t matter. He wouldn’t let any harm come to his siblings. No matter the cost. 

With a final nod, Five took the briefcase, pressed the buttons and-

He was gone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you wanna know wtf made the Handler change her mind, I'll be uploading a little oneshot with a different POV. It'll be part of a series, so it'll be easy to find. Might not be up for a few minutes tho hehe.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five visits Klaus once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so so sorry with how late this chapter came out. I was boggled with school and with hating-this-chapter-itis. I swear, I've rewritten so many scenes so many times. Should call me Angelica Schyler with how unsatisfied I am with this lmao.

The streets on Salmon Arm were quiet and peaceful. A cool breeze moved a few leaves around before settling down once more. 

The quiet was only disturbed by a flash of blue light, which vanished as soon as it had appeared. The previously empty space was suddenly occupied by a suited man. Said man looked around and raised an eyebrow in surprise. 

“This is  _ not _ a place I would imagine Klaus to be staying at,’’ he muttered, looking around. The place he had landed was clean and quaint, more vacation-home than a city. And while Five didn’t know much about drugs, he wasn’t sure if this was the best place to get them. 

Before Five could think too much, the hiss of a pneumatic tube reached his ears. He looked at the lamppost behind him with a confused frown and took the slip of paper out. All that was written, however, was an address. Rolling his eyes at the cryptid nature of practically everyone at the Commission, Five went to the address. 

It only took a couple of blinks before Five found the place, which turned out to be a cheap motel. Assuming this was typical Commission formalities, Five went inside and asked for a room and package, and lo and behold, he got it.

When Five saw what was on the box, however, he couldn’t help but be overtaken by fury. 

Inside, laid his Dolores. Crammed in what looked like an uncomfortable position with the few belongings he had. He quickly took her out and reassured her everything was alright.

“God, Dolores, I can’t believe they did that to you. I _ promise  _ I’ll avenge you” he said, as he checked her for bugs. He felt a bit mean, looking under her blouse, but safety first, modesty second. 

He wasn’t surprised when he found one, this wasn’t the first time they tried, but since they hadn’t scolded him from taking them out so far, he wasn’t going to start leaving them there now. 

He let her rant for a little while, nodding at every complaint, before focusing on the situation at hand. He hadn’t thought they’d let him visit Klaus, but he still had thought of what to do if they  _ did _ . He’d managed to get money from the current year -an easy thing to do at his place of work- and a bank account of the time period - not so easy but not impossible.

All he had to do now, was find the guy. 

_ Thomas Frederik huh. _

* * *

Thomas looked at the gun the man was holding with apprehension, then back at the papers he had to sign. This certainly wasn’t how he expected his day to go. 

“Y-you know you’re going to have to pa-pay for the elec-”

“Just shut up and sign here,” he said. 

They’d been at it for around an hour. Thomas thought of refusing to help at first, but the man was quick to put those thoughts at rest by sliding Thomas a picture of his wife and daughter at the mall. It wasn’t the picture that was scary, but rather the fact that not only had Thomas never seen the picture before but his daughter, Lizzie, was wearing the new overalls he’d given her yesterday, looking just as she did when she and Maria left this morning. 

That had been more than enough to get Thomas to comply. 

As he finished signing the homeownership documents he’d been given, he looked at the intimidating man before looking back down. The permanent glare he had on his face was far too intimidating to keep looking at for a man like Thomas. Maria would surely be able to take him, but Thomas was weak. Still, he was strong enough to let him know he was done, the thought of the man finally leaving his life was more than enough motivation. 

“Uh- I, I’m done,” he said, and at the glare, he was given, he added a “sir”. 

“ _ Finally _ , I didn’t have all day,” he said, before reaching into his briefcase. Thomas immediately tensed, even though his right hand still had the gun trained on him, what’s not to say he was taking out an even  _ bigger _ gun to kill him with? 

As Thomas was guessing which horrible way the man -Klaus Hargreeves he was guessing, from the names at the papers- was going to kill him, said man took out a big stack of money, before going back for more. Eventually, there was enough money at the table to pay for the house he’d just lost ownership of. The man started counting it out loud, and to Thomas’ surprise, it was a bit more of what he was originally selling the house for. 

“If you were going to pay, wh-why the fuck did you threaten me for?!” he screamed in astonishment. All that fear? For nothing??

“The legal way is too slow,” the man said with a shrug. “Now call your lawyer so we can make this official, I don’t know enough about this to do it myself” 

* * *

As Five returned to the trashy motel -after spatial jumping into a train back to Salmon Arm- and listened to Dolores complain about the  _ nerve of those agents _ -which he wholly agreed with- a noise outside caught his ear. Some rushed movement and a  _ very _ familiar voice could be heard.

“Come  _ on _ , there’s no way I’m staying out here- well  _ yes _ but I’m sure I can take him. Hey! I resent that! I got the same training you did!”

Five leaned on the windowsill and looked down, Dolores still in hand. There he was, Five’s medium brother, digging through a dumpster as one would dig through old clothes. The ease with which he held himself made Five wonder just how many times Klaus had to find food that way.

“Look, man, I think I got a better chance of surviving with Ray than in the snow. With him all I’ll get is some broken bones, here I’m 100% getting hypothermia,”

Before Klaus could continue his conversation, Five decided to interrupt. 

“ _ Or _ ,” he started, “you could just stay here with me” he finished drawling out, honest words somehow coming off as sarcastic. 

Klaus looked up at the open window and squinted his eyes. There was a pause before his eyes suddenly widened.

“Shy sugar daddy! I thought I’d never see you again!” 

…

What the fuck had Five gotten himself into. 

* * *

It was only when Klaus was finally at the room, sitting on the bed and looking at Dolores with a curious expression, that he talked again.

“Soooo,” Klaus started. Five just raised an eyebrow and Klaus sighed and asked: “what’s up with the mannequin?” 

Five looked at him with fond exasperation, because really,  _ that _ was what he asked? Before shrugging. 

“Her name is Dolores,” he said, and suddenly stood up to organize the mess he’d left. He put everything he’d taken out of the box back in it not counting Dolores of course.

“Ooookayyyyy... that’s not weird at all,” at that, Five glared at him. Klaus quickly put his hands up in surrender, “not that I’m judging of course! To each their own!” he said awkwardly, and wow, someone had made  _ Klaus _ feel awkward. It didn’t make him feel as accomplished as a young Five would’ve thought.

He gave Klaus a look, before sighing. “I rented this room for tonight. Tomorrow I’m going out, but you’re free to join me” he changed the subject. 

“Sure thing  _ big guy _ . Way better than what I had planned!” Klaus said, before listening to what Five assumed was a ghost (hopefully Ben) and nodding his head. “You’re right! For once- no don’t interrupt me.” he chastised the air. “Anyways, he’s right,” he told Five, pointing a thumb to his right. “I don’t know your name!” And he was right. He fantasised about telling him he was his long lost brother for a few seconds, before internally shaking his head. There was no way he was risking his chance with his family for something so little as personal satisfaction. 

“John Smith,” he said, only to be met with disbelief. 

“John Smith? There’s no way someone named their kid that. If I had a surname as boring as Smith I’d be sure to give my kid a super unique name, like Atticus or Riggel…” At that Five only smirked, which seemed to infuriate Klaus even more. 

“It’s a  _ fake _ name! You sneaky little thing. You won’t tell me your real name, huh, don’t worry, I’m sure I can guess it”

The rest of the afternoon consisted of Klaus giving out guesses at what his name was, even as they ate dinner at a nearby Spanish restaurant. Even though Klaus was occasionally annoying -though he did seem to be making an effort to be likeable, which made sense since Five seemed to just be throwing money at him- Five hadn’t felt this good in ages. 

When he went to sleep, for the first time in decades, he went to sleep with a smile. 

* * *

The next morning, Five woke up early and ready to go. He bought some bagels and train tickets to the city and came back to the hotel. There laid Klaus, somehow still sleeping soundly. He made sure everything he wanted was properly packed and woke up Klaus.

Klaus groaned but woke up surprisingly quickly. Well, it had been a few decades since Five lived at the academy, but if Vanya’s book was to be believed, Four had stayed there for a few more years. He guessed waking up at six am for every day of the first seventeen years of your life did that to you. 

“Here,” he said, giving Klaus the bag with the remaining bagel. “We leave at seven… I bought you something” 

“Awe he bought me something! How sweet. What? Of course, I’m following, he bought me something! Oh please, if he wanted to kill me I’m sure he would’ve done that when I was sleeping” Klaus said, annoyance clear in his tone. 

And damn, Five hadn’t realised how creepy he was being until he heard himself. “Look, it's just. I bought you a house. I have the money so” he shrugged uncomfortably. 

It seemed, however, like his comment only made it worse. Even easygoing, go with the flow, Klaus was open-mouthed at that. 

“Y-you bought me a house?” Klaus asked, astonished

“Well, yes”

”How nice of you! You hear that, asshole? He bought me a house!” 

_ And if Five would’ve been able to hear ghosts, he would’ve heard a worried brother chastise the medium with a “Klaus that’s suspicious as fu-” only to be quickly interrupted with a _

“Free house!”

* * *

It seemed like Klaus didn’t believe him, however, as when they stood on the front of the small house, Klaus was gaping like an idiot. 

_ ”... holy shit he actually bought you a house?” _

“...Looks that way. You really outdid yourself Johnny” he said, walking into the house after Five had unlocked it. “That said, there’s no fucking way you’re doing this for free, what do you want” he gave Five a hard look and that was probably the first time Klaus had shed away his idiot exterior and became serious. 

Five thought carefully on what to say, before deciding to stick as close to the truth as he could. 

“...You remind me of my brother. He ran away at seventeen to live on the streets and- well I couldn’t help him, so I might as well help you.” and damn it, his voice had actually trembled there. 

“Oh, uh, look man I’m sorry for your loss, and I appreciate your help, but you shouldn’t just throw away all your money on-”

“It’s not just that, you remind me of myself too,” he said, not realising how true it was until he got the words out. “I lived on my own for most of my childhood, and that’s just, it’s not  _ good _ , it’s awful, not knowing when you’re going to eat next when you’re going to sleep next, I don’t want you to have to deal with that.” 

Klaus looked unsure at that. He kept glancing at the empty counter for guidance, seemingly lost, so Five just kept going. 

“Plus I’m not doing this selflessly.” he added, “I actually need something from you” at this, Four seemed to lighten up, something he could relate to, Five guessed. 

“I have a… problem” he started. Even if he was his brother, Klaus didn’t know that. Admitting weakness just felt  _ wrong _ . “I can’t  _ toshpepol _ ” 

“You can’t  _ what _ ?” 

“ _ Icanttouchpeople _ ”

“ _ What?! _ ”

“I can’t, I can’t touch people,” he said looking down, before hurrying up and explaining “It’s not that I  _ can’t _ it’s just that when I try it feels awful and makes me want to scratch my skin off, and that’s horrible for my choice of work.” he ranted, before once more schooling himself. “Mhhm,” he cleared his throat, “I think exposure is making it better, but there’s only so much I can get without explaining the situation. Plus, for some  _ weird _ reason,”  _ like them being brothers _ “you don’t affect me as much as everyone else does.” 

Klaus sat on the ground and put on a pensive face. The silence was somehow making Five as nervous as the Handler usually made him. Klaus seemed to be having a silent conversation with -ok it  _ had _ to be Ben, Klaus hated all ghosts- before nodding and looking back at Five. 

“Alright Johnny, I’ll take your questionable money and help you out with this celibacy thing, but only because you’re cute,” he said wiggling his finger, and- ugh, that was an image he didn’t need. 

“Klaus,” he says, his seriousness earning him a focused (finally!) look, “Please don’t come at me. I don’t want to sleep with you, I don’t want to date you. Actually, I don’t want to date or sleep with anyone. At all.” he finished awkwardly, giving every stop an emphasis. 

At this, instead of joking about it, Klaus gave Five a contemplative look, hand in his chin as if he was on a comic strip. It looked like he wanted to say something, but was holding himself back. Of course, Klaus being Klaus, caves in a few seconds. 

“Are you ace?” he asks curiously. And Five would tell him, honestly, but-

“What the fuck is ace?”

* * *

In the end, Five decides he’s probably asexual. The only (romantic) relationship he’s ever wanted, was the one he had with Dolores. He did not hold any need for sex -more like disgust towards it, the thought makes him shiver in a mixture of disgust and fear. Five’s not quite sure if his apprehension towards sex comes from his apocalyptic background, or if he’d be  _ normal _ if he’d never  _ gone through that damned jump and fucked up his whole life and _ \- 

Well, there’s no point fantasising about what-ifs. If he’d never jumped, he wouldn’t have known about the apocalypse and the Commission. But he  _ does _ know, so he’s going to fix it. 

The point is. He’s probably asexual. And for once, his differences don’t bother him. He did not need sex, and from what he’d seen, libido only lowered work quality. He had all he needed with Dolores and did not need anyone else. 

Asexual or not, Five was still Five. And Five right now wanted to sleep. 

It was 23:06 according to the clock Klaus had bought -earlier on the day he had given Klaus a credit card, dropped him off at an Ikea and told him to buy things for the bedrooms. He thought he’d buy some beds, but when he picked him up there where no only beds awaiting to be delivered, but also sleeping bags (as the beds wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow) clocks, a fake potted plant and a real one that Five had no idea where he got from, some stuffed animals, a bunch of pillows and blankets, a pair of heels and some weed. 

Five was sure Klaus hadn’t left the Ikea. Honestly, while he liked to think of himself as the most resourceful of the seven, Klaus seemed to be giving him a run of his money. 

Ikea items or not, it was almost midnight, and Five couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t his usual bouts of insomnia keeping him awake. He’d been asleep a couple of minutes ago, but a sound had woken him up and it  _ just didn’t stop _ . 

It was low and seemed to be coming from the house rather than outside. Sounding a bit like… moaning? God, what was Klaus doing? 

After listening for a few more seconds, he quickly realised it wasn’t moaning but rather, whimpering? He quickly blinked himself into the room and looked around for threats, only to find an empty room. Klaus was sleeping on his sleeping bag, mumbling and whimpering on his sleep. 

As Five looked at his sweating brother cry out, he realised how badly he fucked up. He had teleported himself into a room with his brother. His brother who could communicate with the dead. The dead who didn’t sleep. 

“ _ Fuck _ ” he said, looking around in dismay. He had to find a way to salvage this. “Ben, if you’re here I want you to know that- look I can’t explain anything but if Klaus found out I’m, well  _ me _ , both our lives could be in mortal danger,” he said, feeling foolish about talking to the empty air. 

Klaus whimpered once more and-

“Oh fuck this” he said, before leaning down near Klaus. He didn’t know much about night terrors and nightmares, especially on others, but he had lived in a house full of kids with them once. He knew enough not to touch him, lest risk getting hit. (because one just  _ didn’t _ forget being hit by Luther after startling him out of a bad dream.)

“Klaus! Wake up!” he told him, but it seemed to do nothing. Klaus was fast on his own world and Five didn’t know what to do except say-

“FOUR! WAKE UP”

It seemed to do the trick, Klaus’ eyes quickly snapped open. They were wild and unfocused, and while no longer whimpering, he seemed to be whispering, begging. A murmur of “ _ pleaseletmeoutI’llbegoodIpromisepleasedad _ ” 

“Klaus!” he said firmly, “you’re ok. It’s 19- no, it’s 2011. You’re safe, at your house, in a very uncomfortable looking sleeping bag,” and so on. He kept repeating the same words at a loud and firm tone. Not counting his original mishap on the year, his words were precise and left no room for doubt. 

Five kept that going for a while until Klaus pressed himself to Five. At the unexpected touch Five froze. He started panicking, not knowing what to do, but a low whine from Klaus was quick to bring him back to the present. Klaus needed some contact, and no matter how much he hated it, his siblings were worth more than any discomfort. 

He hugged Klaus back with only a small grimace on his face. He started talking again as he wrote equations with his fingers on Klaus’ back. Eventually, he stopped talking and just repeated what he was finger-writing out loud, his quiet voice calming Klaus, and the equations he used for blinking from place to place comforting him. 

They laid like that for a while, the discomfort Five was feeling was somehow less than the discomfort he felt as he saw Klaus lost in his nightmare. 

He should write it down, if the physical contact had a purpose, it was far more bearable. 

“...sorry for that, old man,” said Klaus, not looking at him. 

“It’s fine,” Five said, arm still around his brother. “You want me to lay with you?” he asked because while he wasn’t looking forward to that idea, young number Four had always found it comforting. 

“Uh, don’t you have your touch thing?” he asked questioningly, but the tone was more than enough for Five to know he wanted to. It might’ve been years since he had seen his siblings, but some things you never forget. 

“I’ll manage,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. 

“So much for not wanting to sleep with me,” Klaus said jokingly, but he laid down again, taking Five with him. Five sighed and laid down ready for another sleepless night. He wished he’d have the forethought to bring Dolores with him. 

* * *

At 5:22, Five had finally had enough of laying there, being hugged by his lanky brother. He somehow managed to get out of Klaus’ constrictor grip and went to the kitchen -not before taking a detour on his room and getting Dolores of course.

He looked at the barren kitchen for a few seconds, before sighing. 

“Goddamn it,” he said, only to be chastised by Dolores. “Come on, Dolores, I’m a grown man, I should be allowed to curse,” he complained half-heartedly. 

“I’m going to the store- Hey! If I want to buy myself a flask of Vodka that’s  _ my _ choice. Ugh, if I  _ promise  _ I won’t get drunk, would you let me go? Yeah, yeah, love you too,”

And with that, he was gone. 

* * *

When Klaus finally got up for breakfast, Five already had some waffles served -a meal that he knew Klaus liked, and that if store-bought, where easy enough to make- served on a table he’d also gone and bought. 

The way Klaus’ eyes brightened when he saw the food made Five stupidly prideful. 

“Johnnyyyy! You didn’t!” he said excitedly, pulling out the chair on Dolore’s left, then also pulling out another one to sit on himself. Five felt like raising an eyebrow at that but… he  _ had _ sat Dolores on the table, even though she didn’t eat. 

“Ok Mr Smith, I got a plan for your hedgehog dilemma,” Klaus said with food on his mouth. 

“My what?” 

“Your MC Hammer issues”

Five just gave him a glare, while trying to will down the blush at his lack of knowdlege of whatever the fuck was talking about.

“Aw come on buddy, U Can’t Touch This? Rings any bells? Wait- No? Oh, _Kumpel,_ I gotta educate you on some pop culture” Klaus said, as he ate. “That’s not the point though, the point is, uh, wait lemme remember- Yeah! Let’s hold hands!” 

At Five’s incredulous look, Klaus waved his hand -which was still holding a fork with a syrup covered waffle piece- around as he explained. 

“Come on Doctor Who, what’s a little hand-holding between friends?” 

“It’s not that,” Five admitted, “It’s just, I can hold hands just fine, how will that help me?” 

At that Klaus raised an eyebrow. “Sure you can hold hands, but for how long?” and Five couldn’t stop his eyes from widening. He’d been so focused on escalating the touch, he never thought of how  _ long _ he could deal with it. 

“See, I know that look. That’s a ‘wow Klaus! I can’t believe you just said something smart!’ look. Since you have unlimited money apparently, you should rent a series! Or Movies! We’ll watch it on the couch together, as we hold hands and, Gasp! Touch shoulders! Maybe even knees if you’re feeling kinky.” he said with a shit-eating grin, before shoving more food on his mouth. 

Five opened his mouth to say something, but Klaus was quick to put his index fingers on the front of Five’s face in a universal “wait a minute” signal. Five sighed and finished his own breakfast, waiting for his brother to explain. 

Klaus seemed to be eating obnoxiously slow for some reason, so Five sighed (again) and stood up, bringing his now empty plate to the -luckily- functional sink. He had only just turned the tap on when Klaus decided to speak again. 

“Mmm, this is so good. Anyways, while my plan is perfect, there  _ is _ the issue of us not having a telly… or a DVD player… or a TV stand or a couch… or-”

“Yeah, I get it.” Five interrupted with an annoyed tone. “You want to go shopping for furniture again, don’t you” 

The responding grin was answer enough. 

* * *

The rest of the week followed in a similar fashion. Five familiarised himself with his brother and Klaus with him. While he received a few raised eyebrows for his relationship with Dolores, Klaus never brought it up, which was more than ok for Five.

They spent most of the day on the couch Klaus had bought (with Five’s money of course) watching movies they’d rented. The movies Klaus picked didn’t seem to have a single thing in common. The first one was The Matrix after Klaus realised Five wasn’t getting his Mr Smith jokes. After that, he rented porn of all things? The uncomfortable look Five had seemed to be enough for the Medium not to buy porn again. 

After that he rented some Disney movies, but right after he made Five watch The Sixth Sense, and made sure every word he said that day was a reference to that movie. 

On his last day, Klaus had rented American Pie and Groundhog Day, the latter bringing fond memories of him and his siblings sneaking out to see it. Nostalgia aside, the concept of a time loop was one Five was interested in, he’d definitely have to study it some more when he got back to work. 

The hand holding was barely uncomfortable compared by the way Klaus seemed to drape himself over Five. The first day he’d just let his head rest on Five’s shoulder, but somehow each day he touched more and more. It never felt sexual or romantic in nature, so Five didn’t really feel like he could complain. 

While the touch wasn’t as horrible as stranger’s touches where that much skin on skin contact made Five feel like his skin was on fire. He had to concentrate to pay attention to the movies instead of analysing each spot that was being touched. 

After that first night, where Five comforted Klaus, his brother seemed to look at him…  _ different _ . More calculating. Five wasn’t sure if Ben (or any other ghost for that matter) had told him about his identity, or if it was something else, but Klaus definitely wasn't mentioning it. 

* * *

When it came time for him to leave, Five felt… reluctant. He’d enjoyed his time with his brother and the half-heard conversations he had with Ben. When Klaus came home high, the conversations they had became wilder. Five used him as an idea bouncing board. Klaus’ comments under the influence gave Five a new perspective on whatever issue he was phasing. 

They were currently theorising about time travel -well, Klaus was theorising, Five was trying to perfect his own time travelling- when Five heard the familiar sound of a pneumatic tube. 

Scoffing, Five stood up from the couch and opened the fridge -from where the sound had come from- and took it out. 

On it was a simple date (written in the standard minute-hour-date-month-year way the Commission always wrote dates) and a handwritten note that said: “See you soon”. 

Five stared at it for a few seconds, before slumping against the fridge. The reluctance had come back with full force. Five was very tempted just to stay, but he needed the Commission to save his family -and the world. So with another sigh, Five put the tube back in the fridge and rejoined Klaus. 

“Klaus,” he said, at which Klaus looked up, joint in hand. 

“Yeah, old man?” Klaus said, stretching his limbs and somehow taking more of the couch. He was basically occupying the whole thing by himself. Five guessed it was a bit symbolic since it’d be just his from now on.

“I’m leaving.” 

“Oh, cool. Can you bring some more waffles? We’ve almost run out,” Klaus said, and Five looked down to the floor. He was going to miss this idiot. 

“I’m leaving for good. I’ll probably be back in a few years, but I might die before that.” he shrugged, and he probably would. It wasn’t his father or a government he was thinking of betraying. It was practically Time itself. 

“Uhh, that’s ominous. You’re not going to kill yourself are you?” and while Klaus was aiming for a nonchalant tone, the worry on his voice was clear enough for Five to catch on. 

Five gave him what he hoped was a comforting look and shrugged again. “Don’t worry, if I die I won’t be the one pulling the trigger. I’ve already made it so the water and electricity bills are taken care of, I’ll see you in a few years” he told Klaus. 

He then went upstairs to pack, get his briefcase, and get out of there. 

Once he was done, he came back down and gave Klaus a small smile, before opening the door and leaving. Once outside, he made sure to go to an unused alleyway, put the time and place on his briefcase, and left 2011 for good.

_ Unknown to him, a certain ghost was watching at all it all, debating on what to tell Klaus, hardly believing this man was his long-lost brother. The verdict? Undecided. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buying a house is not as simple as I make it seem in this chapter. I was gonna do it more realistically but then it was boring as fuck. Suspend your disbelief or however the expression goes.
> 
> ((huge thanks to Misshowdoyoudo for being a complete inspiration/cheerleader/good friend. If you somehow haven't read her fics... you should. They're so good man.))
> 
> ((Also, shout out to Aaron and Jo because their videos keep me going. (If you haven't watched them before,, big rec. If you do and you like them, give em a last comment and mention Lia sent you? Ok maybe not. Idk do what you want, big rec tho.))

**Author's Note:**

> I had 16 different title ideas. How did this one win, you may ask. Did you pick it at random Lia?
> 
> Well, no. I used a Hunger Games sim so the best title could win. Gotta say, this one was probably the best too.


End file.
